Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Welcome to Fellowship Bible Church. Got a few folks with me here in the room tonight. Looks like somebody else is coming down the steps over there to come in. Welcome to those of you who are joining in online. It is our Thursday night Bible study. And we actually finished the study of the Gospel of John last Thursday night. But if you recall, when we went through the section describing Christ's suffering, we came to the passage that covered Peter's denial of knowing Jesus when he was outside the high priest's house. And I didn't go into detail there because I knew we had the passage in chapter 21 coming just a week or two later. about when Jesus restored him from that. So I thought I would connect those two into one study. Then, what did I do? Last week when we did chapter 21, I covered just the passage about Christ's restoration of Peter. And we'll touch base with both of those tonight. But what I've done is sort of I guess sort of a postlude to the Gospel of John, if you will, is I put together here a little study, sort of a character study, if you will, of Peter, the Apostle Peter. And the Bible is about Jesus, right? The Bible is about the Lord. But the Lord very much does his work in the world through people that he calls. And just like you read about Old Testament Israel in the older texts, sometimes when you read about somebody like Peter, you are aware of certain characteristics of him. And then, of course, the famous fall at his denial of knowing the Lord. But then you see him restored, and you get to see then what he becomes when you progress into the Book of Acts, and then even to the two epistles that he writes in the New Testament. So there becomes like a character study of a progression of how God works in and with and through this disciple of his in this period of his life. And it becomes very encouraging because, let me be frank, the experience of failing and then humbling ourselves and coming back to the Lord, and then maybe it happens again, maybe it happens again, that pattern exists in many of our lives because we're weak and we're fallen. Peter was a weak man, but I'm no Peter, and not many of us are, right? So it becomes then an encouragement to see the faithfulness of God to his chosen vessel, Peter, and how that patience, And that faithfulness of the Lord, that mercy, that grace, that unfailing love of God towards Peter just lifts him, first of all, is patient with him through the three years of Christ's life, then exercises that great patience and love in the restoration. after Christ rose from the dead. And then he emerges, not just restored and stronger for it, learned some lessons serving the Lord, but actually appears very much to be a leader among the ranks of the apostles in those early years of the Book of Acts that the Book of Acts records, and then, of course, the two great epistles in the New Testament. So that's kind of what we're going to do here tonight. So let's dive right in. I'm going to open with prayer, and we're going to jump around to a bunch of different passages. We're not just going to cover those two events. Uh, I want to go all the way back to Luke chapter five in verse one. So if you want to turn there now, Luke chapter five in verse one, and let me open us with a prayer and then I will read, uh, that passage. Our father in heaven, Lord, we thank you that when you choose someone and you reach them through the preaching of the gospel and you call them Lord to yourself and you grant to them repentance and faith and They believe the Gospel and they are saved by your grace through faith. You're sealed with the Holy Spirit and you stay with us. The promise of the Great Commission is that you are always with us, even to the end of the age. You are, as the Apostle Paul said, you're faithful to complete the good work that you've begun in us. And we rejoice in your steadfast faithfulness. And we see that evidenced as recorded in your scriptures the way that you were towards Simon Peter. And so I pray that our study of different passages of scripture tonight would be encouraging for all of us who are in Christ. Let your will be done. By your Holy Spirit, I pray you'd help me to teach and help all of us to hear. And I give you thanks for this privilege In Jesus' name I pray, amen. So let's start. I have a whole list of scripture passages picked out. Maybe I'll read them all. Maybe I won't. But let's start with Luke chapter 5 and verse 1. And I'm going to read verses 1 through 11. And what I'm going to do is just very simply read each one of these passages and then just make a short observation or two about Peter. And hopefully threading all of those together, you'll get somewhat of a comprehensive picture. Luke 5.1, so it was, as the multitude pressed about him, that's Jesus, to hear the word of God, that he stood by the lake of Genesaret and saw two boats standing by the lake. But the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, that's Peter, and asked him to put out a little from the land. and he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. But Simon answered and said to him, Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken. And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men. So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed him. So really the main observation about Peter to make about this passage was Things got off to a pretty good start, didn't they? I mean, first of all, you see early on here that there's a commitment to be obedient. I like the response when Jesus tells them to launch out. Simon, by all accounts, is an experienced fisherman, and he hadn't caught anything all night. But I love when he says, nevertheless, that's your word. We'll do it. We'll do what you say. So right from the beginning, there was this recognition, at least that Jesus, not with full understanding, but that Jesus was someone to listen to and to do what he said. So there was a good start with all of that. But then probably what I am drawn to the most in this passage concerning Peter is his reaction. We're told that everyone was astonished, but we're specifically told in verse eight of Peter's reaction to this great catch of fish, which is to fall down at Jesus' knees. So it's like an act of worship, right? And then he says what? This is amazing. Peter recognized that he was in the presence of something that in his own natural state he had no business being around. There might be an inclination for a fisherman who makes his living doing that and just had two boatloads of fish given to him to want to make sure you keep this guy as close nearby as possible, right? here's a wonderful business partner for me, right? I mean, Peter could have gone like all prosperity gospel mindset right from the beginning and said, you know, I'm gonna keep Jesus nearby because when I need fish, I know who it is that can give it to me. That had nothing to do with anything that Peter was thinking about in that moment. When that happened, Peter realized he was in the presence of at least something not of this world. And he called him Lord, which would seem to recognize that he was in the presence of God. God. If he did not yet fully recognize that Jesus is God, he certainly recognized at least that God was at work in Jesus. He certainly comes to eventually recognize all there is to recognize about Jesus, but probably not yet. So you see that Peter starts out with sort of at least a cursory desire to be obedient and great humility before the presence of God at work in the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, then Jesus Christ gives him the words that would stick with him for the rest of his life. Do not be afraid. From now on, you will catch men. Right. And that was true for all of them. And to some extent, that's the true. Well, not to some extent that is. That's the mission that we as the church are called to as well, to be fishers of men, to be makers of disciples. Right. All right. So now. Let's progress on to the next one, Matthew chapter 14 and verse 22. I'll give you a minute to turn there. I actually printed all these verses out for myself to just kind of make it easier for myself to go through. But if you're following your Bibles, Matthew chapter 14 and verse 22. going to read to verse 30. It says, immediately, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while this is not in direct sequence to the other passage. I'm kind of jumping into the points where we get specific insights into Peter. While he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Now when evening came, he was alone there, but the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a ghost. And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. So he said, come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried out, saying, Lord, save me, right? And then if you read on from there, Jesus kind of rebukes, asks him, why didn't you believe? Why weren't you faithful, right? So here you see kind of this assertiveness, I think, of Peter in being the one that kind of singly asks something that the rest of them presumably did not. They recognize they're afraid, they think it's a ghost, but when they recognize that, they hear Jesus say, be of good cheer, don't be afraid, Peter calls out to him and says, well, if it's you, let me walk on the water out to you, because Jesus was obviously walking out on the water. So he starts out, but then things kick up a little bit, and he becomes afraid, and he begins to sink. So you see there, you know, I guess in a way you would almost think that like once you get out of the boat onto the water that first moment and you're standing on it. that might give someone a great deal of confidence, right? But right away you see that Peter's faith is tested here and starts to grow a little bit weaker, right? So you see kind of a brashness, a boldness, very kind of outspoken compared to the rest of the group But then when Jesus delivered on what it was that Peter asked, and then the storm kicked up a little bit, Peter's faith became a little bit weaker, all right? Can we relate to that? Have you ever had a day where you've awakened, and you've prayed, and you've sought the Lord, and you're walking through the day, and you're having a nice moment-by-moment conversation with the Lord, praying without ceasing, and then something just, bam, out of nowhere, it comes, and it just sets you off. And then kind of like Peter, it's like you feel like suddenly you're sinking. And then you hear the words of Jesus echoing in your ears. Why did you get afraid? Why did you not believe? Why didn't you stay with it, right? So that's one of the reasons why Peter is good to study in his relationship with God, because I think it's so relatable in so many ways. All right, so now you see that in Peter. And a couple more examples from the Gospels here. That's where most of these are from. Now go to Mark chapter 8 and verse 27, moving ahead, not covering every mention of Peter, obviously, being here for a long time. So you kind of get a little picture here already, right? Got off to a good start, but now you see a little bit of that brashness, a little bit of doubting when trouble kicked up. Now Mark 8, verse 27. Now Jesus and his disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi, and on the road he asked his disciples, saying to them, who do men say that I am? So they said, John the Baptist, but some say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? See who speaks up? Here we go, he steps forward again, right? Peter answered and said to him, you are the Christ, or you are the Messiah, the anointed one. Then he strictly warned them that they should tell no one about him. So Peter's the one that speaks up for the group and makes verbal their belief, their understanding. They recognize that he's the Messiah. Now, verse 31 is important. Then at that moment, Jesus, he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed. and after three days rise again." Now, here again, you see some of this brashness, right? It says, he spoke this word openly, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, right? So now you have Peter speaking up in a certain degree of boldness, confessing that Jesus is the Christ. And Jesus, obviously by not rejecting that, is affirming that. then tells them, don't tell anyone else. And then when you see the wisdom of Jesus in unfolding the teaching to them, they've come to realize that he's the Messiah. He's brought that out of them. So now he's moving on and starting to teach about what his mission is. I'm gonna be betrayed, handed over, the chief priests and all the religious leaders, they're gonna put me to death, but I'm gonna rise again on the third day. And then out of nowhere, here comes this Like, in a sense, there's almost like a surface level bit of being admirable because he wants to be assertive in his loyalty to Jesus, but he doesn't know what he's talking about. Jesus himself goes on to say, you've got in your mind here the things of men. Immediately after making the great spiritual confession that Jesus is the Christ, goes into this carnal mode where it's like, No way. And he takes Jesus aside and starts to rebuke Jesus. And Jesus' response is as sharp as can imagine. He rebuked Peter saying, get behind me, Satan. For you're not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. When we set aside the things of God, even the harder things of God, and take like a earthly humanistic approach to things. Who's being served? Not God. Serving Satan. And Jesus recognizes the influence of Satan in the mind and the spirit of the one who just openly confessed that he was the Messiah. So, you see, again, this conflict of assertiveness, brashness, boldness, and desire to serve, but it is also offset by, clearly, a very carnal mindset, a very earthly mindset. You can see a certain amount of ego takes over here. No way that's happening to you. Right? And Jesus says, get behind me, Satan, because what Jesus was saying there when he told them what was going to happen to him, Jesus was not like lamenting or saying, you know what? I'm here, but these guys are all going to reject me and I'm going to be killed. No, he's stating what his divine purpose in the earth is. This is what's going to happen to me. Not, this is going to happen to me so we have to be careful to try to make sure it doesn't. No, this is why I'm here. But the earthly mindset is like, no, we're not going to let that happen. So again, you see that in Peter. All right, so let's move on now from there. So you're getting a little picture of some of his character and some of his weaknesses and some of his strengths. Now go to John chapter 13 moving forward yet again. Now we're moving into the latter days of Jesus life on earth. And there's a lot of a number of incidents here to refer to. and a couple of things here from the gospel of John that we went over recently. John chapter 13. So we're in the upper room, and here is the foot washing episode. Verse five says that Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Then he came, he's going around the room, one guy at a time, and he came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will know after this. That should have been the end of it, right? I mean, Jesus said, you don't get it now, but I'm going to do this, and then I'm going to explain it, right? Not for Peter. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet, which again, there's that mix of a certain earthly nobleness to it. But it's like kind of one of those situations where what outwardly might look like an act of humility is actually an act of pride. Do you ever notice that? Sometimes there's a subtle difference between humility and pride. When we just sit around and we're self-pitying and self-loathing and talking about how terrible everything is about me and everything else, sometimes that seems like a person's being humble, but in fact they're They're incredibly obsessed with themselves, because everything is about themselves, right? And that's the kind of thing I think that's going on here. Jesus just said, what I'm doing, you don't get it yet, but you're going to in a minute. And then Peter's like, nope, you're not washing my feet. And look what Jesus said, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. So then Simon Peter says, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. You get the impression when you read something like this, that there's no in between with Peter, right? It seems like you're not washing my feet. And he goes right to, well, wash everything then, right? You know, how about just Again, I'm no Peter, but you read a passage like this and it's like, how about you just accept the fact that the Lord said you don't understand it yet, but you will. So just be quiet and let him do it and wait, right? But no, there's that brashness again. In the same episode, look at verse 36 in John chapter 13. Simon Peter says to the Lord, part of all this conversation, That's going on around the table and everything. Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me afterward. Another one of those sayings of Jesus that's going to require some more explanation. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake. And here's where Jesus breaks to him, what? Will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times. Right? So here you get, again, that brashness of Peter saying, I am ready to die for you. Right? I am never going to allow you to go somewhere where I won't go with you. Again, there comes a time when a person needs to just be quiet and listen. We live in a world now where social media just amplifies all of this. where everything that someone thinks has to be said. And so many times people say things and then regret saying them and have to try to take it back in. Or you say something and even if you're wrong, you double down on it because you don't want to look bad online and all these arguments start and everything else. You know, come on, man, just listen to what Jesus said. You know, you can't follow me now, but you shall follow me afterward. That should be enough. But again, there's that brashness. There's that pride, right? So on the one sense, you could say, Jesus, if he has these, we've looked at multiple incidents now, Jesus could perhaps reached the conclusion, I've had enough of this guy, right? I mean, he keeps opening his mouth and saying these things. Why does he keep doing this? But what do you see? You see the steadfast mercy and grace and faithfulness of Jesus. Peter wasn't there because Peter saw Jesus one day and said, I'm going to go follow him. Peter was there because Jesus chose him. And Jesus chose him for a purpose. And he was going to fulfill that purpose. And Jesus was faithful to him. So you see the sovereign grace of mercy and God towards Peter. And you're recognizing this, not just so we can know about Peter, but you can recognize this so you can see how God deals with people like us. Right? It's good to know that God is steadfast in his faithfulness and is humble and has chosen us and will not forsake us. Right? You see that. And even if you're struggling, you can be patient and wait and learn to be humble. Accept the discipline of God when it comes into your life and be quiet and listen and learn and humble yourself and wait on the Lord. And in his time, He will lift you up to wherever it is that he has for you to do in his service, which may not be anything that seems of any earthly significance at all. But the person who is most obedient to God, the person who is most glorifying God, is the one who simply humbles himself as a servant. Jesus taught that. You want to be great? Be a servant, right? Greatness is not about us pushing ourselves forward. It's about being quiet and waiting on the Lord and allowing him to lead us in his time. Peter's an example of that. So you kind of fast forward through the upper room discourse and you come to chapter 18. Go to chapter 18 in verse 10 in the Gospel of John. This is recently studied now. John 18.10, Judas Iscariot has gone out and betrayed him and they're in the garden now. And here comes Judas Iscariot with his band of people, with all their clubs and everything else, and spears. And they come to arrest Jesus. And John 18.10 says what? Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. If it just stopped there, you might think to yourself, well, Peter said that he would never leave him. Looks like Peter, maybe he's got something going his way after all. Nope. Verse 11. So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? This goes back to when Peter confessed. Remember, when Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, That was great. Then Jesus began to teach what was going to happen to him. And Peter began to rebuke him. And Jesus said, get behind me, Satan. You don't have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. That was apparently still true. He still has in mind, we need to get our swords out and fight here. No, Jesus had already taught these guys. The reason I have come was for this to happen. These guys didn't come and arrest Jesus like on their own strength. Do you remember the part of the account in the Gospel of John was at one point they asked which one is Jesus and Jesus said I am and they all fell down flat on the ground. Remember that? There was another point where Jesus said, don't you realize that I could call on legions of angels to stop all this. This was Jesus fulfilling the purpose for which he came. And here was Peter drawing a sword, trying to defend Jesus from that happening to him. And that's why Jesus came. So in a sense, Peter with his sword out was coming between God's intentions for Christ to redeem himself, Peter, and us, by the way. So again, there's that brashness, there's that pride, there's that self-confidence. To a certain extent, in a worldly sense, self-confidence is not a bad thing, but before God, thinking that we can buy our own effort. Self-confidence when you're going on a job interview is probably a good thing. There are certain situations where, as a characteristic, it's fine. But when it comes to the things of the Lord, it's all about God. We are humble. We are servants. We are recipients of grace, undeserving recipients of God's goodness. We need to be humble and quiet before the Lord, and wait on him, and submit ourselves gladly to his ways, and do his commands. And if we love him, we should obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, right? So you see again that brashness and that pride in Peter. And still, the Lord is faithful. Now, look at Luke 22. I could just very easily read this to you from the Gospel of John. But there's a detail in Luke's account of this that that is particularly touching, for lack of a better way. Luke 22, verse 59. Luke 22, verse 59. So now we're at the place, we're at the high priest's house, and Peter's outside, we were told, warming himself by a fire. It says, after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, surely this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean. But Peter said, man, I do not know what you are saying. Right. Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And that picks it up after the first two times that that happened. But verse 61, look at this. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. So for a moment, it seems that they locked eyes even after this happened. Only Luke grabs that little detail. And then in that moment when they locked eyes, Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Now look at verse 62. Here is, in many respects, the most critical moment in Peter's life at this point. It says that he went out and wept bitterly, right? So two of Jesus' 12 disciples have, in a way, denied him or betrayed him, right? Judas Iscariot betrayed him. Peter denied him. Okay. So Judas Iscariot, what happens to him? He goes out and he hangs himself. He commits suicide. Why would he do that? Because he wasn't a believer. We know from scripture that Jesus said, I've chosen all of you and is not one of you a devil, right? Judas was a false disciple. Judas was false. We knew things about him, too. He was their treasurer, and he used to steal money. He was greedy. There were things about his character. But listen, in the sovereignty of God, there was a purpose for him. And Judas went out and did that. Well, Peter, this is a critical moment, because does Peter go out and do that? No, he does not. So this is a very great failure. All of the pride, all of the brashness, all of that boldness of, you're not going to wash my feet. I'll never betray you. Pulls out the sword, hacks off Malchus's ear, takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. All of that bravado, all of that self-confidence, all of that pride comes crashing down in this moment of I don't even know him. And then he locks eyes with Jesus and then he remembers. And what's it say? So Peter went out and wept bitterly. Peter did not go out, though, and commit suicide. Peter did not. Why did he not? Because of one thing alone, the steadfast faithfulness of the Lord. Peter was, listen, Peter failed. Judas failed. But Judas was a false disciple who failed. Peter was a true disciple who Jesus was sticking with because that's what Jesus does. True disciples fail. Not proud of that, right? Not brag, but it's a fact. It's just a simple reality. True disciples have their weaknesses and have their failures. And Peter is one of those, but Jesus stuck with him. Jesus ends up dying on the cross the next day. He's buried. On the third day, he rises from the dead and Peter is still there. with the group after Jesus rises from the dead. Peter is one of the disciples along with John who runs to the tomb to see the stone rolling away and to see that the Lord's body is gone. So praise the Lord. The faithfulness of God keeps Peter there among the people and sets up for what we studied last week. Take a look at it again. John chapter 21. Here it is after the resurrection now. Now watch this. John chapter 21 and verse 15. It's funny that the Jesus on earth, his time with Peter in his company began with boats and fish, right? And it culminates with boats and fish. and they're, you know, they're out and Peter, Jesus yells from the sea or from the shore out to them in the boat, you know, do you have anything to eat children? No, throw your net over that side over there. They'll bring in a catch. And it's like in that act, they recognize that it's Jesus who had done this before. And so he calls them in, they bring the boat in, Jesus has some fish already ready for them, and he tells them, bring some of the other fish that you caught, they're going to have breakfast together. They're going to have their morning men's prayer fellowship, right? So we'll have to roast some fish on one of our men's fellowships one morning in honor of this. Okay, so when they had eaten breakfast, verse 15 says, now here it goes, ready? Jesus says to Simon Peter, this is a repeat from last week, so it won't take a lot of time. Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Agape? Do you, Agape, love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love Phileo, you, right? Agape is that love that is intentional, not necessarily rooted in feeling. It could be, very often is, like strong, wonderful feelings associated with agape love. But agape is the word that describes love that is intentional. You've chosen to love. Like when Paul writes about love in 1 Corinthians 13, the love among brethren, that's a love that we're commanded to, that's agape, it's intentional. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and things like that. That is agape love. Jesus asks Peter, do you love me like that? And Peter responds by saying, you know I phileo you. That's the more friendly, brotherly, kind of felt love, a love that has a good feeling. They overlap. They're both love. They're both powerful. They're both really love. But it's interesting that Jesus is calling him to one thing, and Peter is responding by saying, you know I, the other one, right? And he asks, it goes, and he says, feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you agape, love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love phileo, you. He said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love, this time Jesus uses the word phileo there, do you phileo me? And it says Peter was grieved. Because now, what's happening? Now, by saying phileo there, Jesus is now directly challenging Peter's first two assertions that he phileo loved Jesus, right? Do you really even that? And of course, it's the third time that he's asking him if he loves him, right? And so that corresponds to the three times that Jesus was denied by Peter before he was crucified, no doubt Peter gets it. And that's why he's grieved because he's asking him a third time. And he says, you know, all things, you know, me, you know, it's almost like unspoken, but what he's, what he's communicating is, I know I failed, but you know, that deep down inside, I love you. Right. He said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. And then this, most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you were old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. And verse 19 tells us this. He spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me. The bit about what kind of death he would die, has to do with being crucified like the Lord was, the tradition was that he wouldn't stand for that. And he asked to be crucified upside down. We talked more about that in last week's study. I want to focus on the words follow me. That's how it all started, was by Jesus saying to Peter, follow me. And he followed. And then he fell. All the pride, all the brashness, All the self-confidence. And he fell. And he fell hard. He fell hard, denying the Lord, locking eyes in that moment, and then went away and wept bitterly. But he didn't utterly fall. He was still there in the group when Jesus rose from the dead. Because that's the loyalty, the steadfast faithfulness of God to his own elect. Right? And now, here's the restoration. Same words as when they first met. Follow me. And with those two words, Peter's back in the fold. Now, what comes after that? You see the brashness, the pride, the self-confidence. You see the hard fall that could have gone one of two ways. But because of the faithfulness of God, Peter's still there. You see the restoration. And now, a restored Peter who has what? The experience of having been what? Humbled. He's humbled, right? The discipline of God changes us. Whom the Lord loves, he rebukes and chastens. You see? And that's what's gone on here now. So now when we get into the Book of Acts, and I'm not going to read any of these passages, but just a little survey of some of the chapters of the Book of Acts. You don't have to turn there, just listen. After Jesus ascends back to heaven, in Acts chapter 1, it is Peter who steps forward to initiate the process of replacing Judas Iscariot with Matthias. In chapter 2, it is Peter who preaches the sermon at Pentecost, explaining that this is the promised pouring out of the Holy Spirit from the book of Joel, and that Jesus is the Messiah who was raised from the dead, according to Psalm 16. And 3,000 people get saved. In chapter 3, it is Peter, along with John, at the beautiful gate by whom God heals the man who is there. And Peter preaches that tremendous message in Solomon's porch. And many, many more people are saved. In chapter 4, in boldness, he's before the Sanhedrin. And they recognize these men have been with Jesus. Boldness and courage in the name of Jesus. No more denials. Now he truly is ready to die for the name of Jesus without needing to say so, right? And then he goes back to his people in that great, bold prayer that gets prayed in Acts chapter 4. And the message keeps going. He seems to be in oversight of the church in the Ananias and Sapphira incident, the lines of the Holy Spirit incident in Acts chapter 5. In Acts chapter 8, it's he who goes to the Samaritans after Philip had gone there. It is Peter who goes to the Samaritans and lays hands on them that they first receive the Holy Spirit there. In chapter 9, it is Peter who brings healing to, and it's the Lord who does it, but it's through Peter, his chosen vessel, that Aeneas is healed. Dorcas is raised from the dead, right? It is chapter 10, it is the Lord who uses Peter to go to Cornelius's house, and the gospel is opened up to the Gentiles there. So Peter is like the first one who preaches the gospel to the Jews at Pentecost. He's the one who goes and lays hands on the Samaritans, and they receive the Holy Spirit. And he's the one who goes to the Gentiles at Cornelius's house, the Italian regiment, right? And they receive the Holy Spirit, right? Peter! Peter, the one with all that, you know, misguided brashness and pride, but he had that fall, and he had his restoration, and then the Holy Spirit came, and he's transformed, he's changed, he's still very bold, but it's all humbly submitted to the glory of Jesus Christ. There's no questioning of Jesus. There's no rebuking Jesus. There's no opening his mouth out of place. Now it's just, Lord, where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do? And here he is doing all these things. It is Peter who stands up in Acts chapter 15 at the Jerusalem Council when they're trying to settle the question about, do the Gentiles who are believing need to be circumcised? It is Peter who boldly stands up there and says, tells the account of what happened in Cornelius's house, right? So he becomes amazingly used of the Lord. And I'm just going to close this study by saying to you that Peter went on from here to write two important epistles, right? And I wanted to pick something out of his epistles that might show the way the Lord changed Peter from that brash man who took him aside and tried to rebuke him back before while Jesus was still on the earth and what he had become. And there's a number of places I could look at, but look at 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 1. We'll close with this. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 1. Just a general instruction, he says, the elders who are among you I exhort, look at this, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. Now he goes on to command them to shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away." Do you see the humility in that? Do you see the lowliness in that? Peter is an apostle. Peter now has truly experienced some really amazing things, but he never wanted any credit at all. You know, when people fell down before him, he said, get up. I'm just a man just like you, right? And here, when he addresses the elders of the church, he says, I'm one of you. Peter is one of me. Peter is, yeah, yeah, that's what he said. I'm your fellow elder. And he said, basically, serve. You need to serve. And he's able to say that because he has served, shepherded the flock of God. So you see that he's gone from the brash, proud, self-motivated one into a humble, servant-minded one. And it was a failure. a hard one, and the recovery and the restoration from that by Almighty God in his faithful grace and love and mercy, and then the filling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that brought all of this about. If there was hope for someone like Peter, who seemed to be tripping over his own words and actions all the time while Jesus was on the earth, if there was hope for him to become at the sovereign will of God and power of God, what he did, there's hope for you. And I am very grateful that there's hope for me. Our God is faithful and merciful. Humble yourself before him. Go to him. Stay close to him. Stay quiet before him and wait on him. Listen to him. Be a humble servant, which is what he raised Peter up to be. So that's our example. I hope that's encouraging to you as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.